Roundup Threatens To Jam Jails As Court-ordered Deadline Nears

August 6, 1986|By RICK PIERCE, Staff Writer

Sheriff Nick Navarro`s countywide roundup of cocaine peddlers threatens to jam Broward`s already packed jail system at a time when county officials are struggling to meet a federal mandate to relieve crowded conditions.

The jail system, designed to hold 1,613 prisoners, contained 1,677 on Tuesday morning. And that was before a countywide sweep had netted another 196 prisoners, all but assuring that the county will be unable to meet U.S. District Judge William Hoeveler`s edict to relieve the crowding by Saturday or face a $1,000-a-day fine.

Meanwhile, some officials hinted that Navarro`s decision to conduct the sweep only four days before the order takes effect was designed to demonstrate the inadequacy of the jail system.

``It`s very suspicious he would pick this week, the week of the jail cap, to do it,`` said Steven Michaelson, a chief assistant to Public Defender Alan Schreiber. ``He puts the county in a tough position. There may be more to it than coincidence.``

``With friends like this, who needs enemies?`` asked Alexander Cocalis, an attorney for the County Commission who has been handling the 10-year-old lawsuit filed by inmates upset at cramped conditions.

Navarro denied the charge.

``This has been in the planning stage for three months,`` Navarro said, adding that the sweep had already been postponed a week. ``What do you want me to do, wait another week? How long have we had an overcrowding problem?``

Sheriff`s officials pointed out that most of the prisoners were arrested on misdemeanor charges, such as loitering, and would be released after they were booked with a notice to appear in court.

In fact, Lt. William Hitchcock estimated that four out of every five arrested during the sweep would be released after booking or after appearing before a magistrate early today.

Two prisoners, who apparently had swallowed their ``crack`` cocaine in an unsuccessful attempt to hinder police, were taken to Broward General Medical Center, Hitchcock said. However, Broward General officials said no such cases were brought to their hospital.

Meanwhile, dozens of prisoners arrested during the sweep were squeezed into cramped holding cells inside the booking area at the main jail in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Sheriff`s deputies said they couldn`t remember a bigger backlog of prisoners.

Lt. Col. Willis Roberts, Navarro`s newly named director of the jail system, remained confident that the system could absorb the extra prisoners. Roberts doubled the number of deputies driving vans transporting prisoners to the jail and added another five in the booking area to handle the overload.

As for Hoeveler`s mandate, Roberts said that would take a back seat to Navarro`s operation.

``I`m not working night and day to meet that goal,`` Roberts said. ``I`m not.``

County Administrator Floyd Johnson also downplayed the impact of the $1,000- a-day fine. Johnson pointed out that the money would simply be transferred into a special county criminal justice fund, in essence going from ``one pocket to another.``

The commission, however, did agree to provide an employee for Chief Judge Miette Burnstein who will monitor the jail problems on a daily basis.